Upward acting door



Sept. 8, 1970 R, R, B ET AL 3,527,283

UPWARD ACTING DOOR Filed Oct. 29, 1968 4/ 5 a Z 4 5 V a & a 0L. 4 w an 4Z 0 w 4 M a 7 3M1 3 3 4 5/ L 4, Z 1i 6 0 W 0 d I I, 2 l L 6 6 4 v;

r e f Y 0 1W b E U e O N 5 2m 3 dn w M 0 8M 7 ok mo 4 W 6 w d n F w W 8.01 ii Qfl flhw m Fig 4 United States Patent 3,527,283 UPWARD ACTINGDOOR Rollo R. Butler, Warren, Allen J. Olsen, Royal Oak, Andrew C.Pantaleo, St. Clair Shores, and Melvin H. Rosenblatt, Southfield, Mich.,assignors to The Celotex Corporation, Tampa, Fla., a corporation ofDelaware Filed Oct. 29, 1968, Ser. No. 771,484 Int. Cl. E06h 3/48 US.Cl. 160-229 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Sections of a hingedupward acting door are connected together economically and inweather-tight condition by a plastic hinge which can be easily insertedinto pre-designed elongated channels in abutting sections.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The present inventionpertains to sectional upward acting doors which are generally used toclose garages, service entrances for commercial buildings, loading dockareas and truck bodies. Certain models of such doors have aluminumframes and glass fiber reinforced resin panels. The frames have abuttingedges and are hinged together for articulation when they are opened andclosed. The abutting edges are provided with overlapping portions toprotect the interior area from weather damage.

Description of the prior art Generally, door panel sections for upwardacting doors are connected together by spaced hinges which are pairs ofmetal plates having interengaging hinge pins. The plates are arranged sothat each plate of a pair is fastened to one of a pair of abuttingpanels. While some of the panels are arranged to have interlockingabutting edges, these have not always proven to be weathertight.Furthermore metal hinges are subject to corrosion and rusting. Toprevent such rusting and provide for easy operation it is advisable tooil the hinge pins from time to time. Not only is this messy butrequires some adequate maintenance schedule to keep rust from forming.

To avoid the drawbacks of the prior art, the plastic hinge of thepresent invention was developed to cooperate with a groove provided ineach edge of abutting panel edges. The configuration of the plastichinge is such that it can be easily snapped in place in the grooves ofthe panels but not withdrawn without either breakage or considerabledifliculty. The ease of its placement shortens the time required tomanufacture the door, resulting in a more economical productionschedule;

Further, the plastic material from which the hinge is made hassurprising resistance to breakage. In actual tests, the hinge has beentried with thousands of opening and closing movements within atemperature range of 95 F. to |l80 F. without failure.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel upwardacting door with an improved hinge arrangement.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel upwardacting door with an improved hinge which is durable, economical andresists deterioration.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a novelupward acting door which has an easily operable hinge providingweather-resistant construction.

Further objects and improvements will become apparent to those skilledin the art from the following detailed description taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying 3,527,283 Patented Sept. 8, 1970 ice drawing inwhich like numerals indicate like elements and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the overall installation of the upwardacting door of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the novel door takenalong lines 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view similar to that of FIG. 2 but with thedoor sections displaced relative to one another as the door is raisedalong its track, and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the plastic hinge of theinvention, inserted into grooves of abutting sections.

Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawings, an upward acting door 10 ismounted to close an opening formed between door jambs 13 and 14. Door 10is arranged to ride in tracks 15 and 16 by means of rollers 18 and 19.Tracks 15 and 16 are secured for a portion of their lengths to jambs 13and 14 and then, after forming a turn, are supported near their freeends by supporting brackets 21 and 22, respectively.

A torsion spring 25 is positioned to cooperatively engage cables and 31attached to the bottom edge (not shown) of door 10 to assist in raisingthe door in the usual manner. Door 10 is made up of a series of panelsections, only two of which, 37 and 38, are shown.

The description, thus far, concerns a conventional upward acting door,door mechanism and components as generally known to those skilled in theart. These mechanisms and components operate in the well known manner toraise and lower the door 10.

Reference may be had to FIGS. 2 and 4 for a more detailed considerationof the novel plastic hinge 40 of the invention and its manner ofconnection with the adjoining panel sections.

FIG. 2 shows abutting edges of panel sections 37 and 38 with hinge 40,in engagement therewith, with the door in its closed or loweredcondition. The lower panel section 37 comprises a generally U-shapedstructure of extruded aluminum or other metal with a base 41 and twoupstanding, parallel flanges 42 and 43 in spaced relationship. Flange 42is connected integrally along one edge of base 41 and has a series oflongitudinal ribs 45 and 46. Flange 43 is connected integrally andlongitudinally along the upper edge of a channel-shaped groove 50.Groove is formed by base 41, a short upward longitudinal flange 52 and arearward extending flange 54. Flange 54 extends outwardly beyond the endof base 41 and in conjunction with flange 43 performs a strengtheningfunction for the panel section 37. Groove 50 is partially closed by ashort flange 58 extending longitudinally along the free end of base 41and extending toward but short of the underside of flange 54, leaving agap for the insertion of hinge 40.

At the front edge of panel section 37 is a lightweight,

. reinforced plastic panel 60 held in place by the crimping action ofshort flange 62 against flange 42. A longitudinal inwardly projectingrib 64 along the upper edge of flange 62 aids in holding panel 60 inplace.

Since the upper panel section 38 is substantially complementary to thatof panel section 37, the corresponding members have been designated withcorresponding members having the suffix a appended.

It should be noted that the structure which forms groove 50a isconnected to an edge of base 41a and is slightly oflset with respect tothe major axis of base 41a. The purpose of this arrangement is to permita shorter flange 79 along the opposite edge of base 41a to serve as astop when the door is in its closed position.

FIG. 3 shows the hinged panel sections of FIG. 2 in operative conditionwhen the door is being opened or closed and the panel sections are inditferent planes as aw p. 3.521.2

they ride over the bend in tracks 15 and 16. It can easily be seen thatthe'hinge 40 flexes longitudinally along "a" central recessed axis. Therecessed area 72 is provided by a thin section of hinge 40 between majorflanges 80 and 81. Flanges 80 and 81 extend perpendicularly away fromthe main centrally longitudinally recessed web portion 84. Longitudinalflanges 86 and 87 are formed by retroflexion offlanges 80 and 81,respectively at an acute angle toward web 84.

Thus, the hinge 40 is generally U-shaped in cross-section with aninterior pair of flanges 86 and 87 integral with the free edges ofspaced parallel flanges 80 and 81 separated by a central web 84; theinterior flanges 86 and 87 being positioned at acute reverse angles withrespect to the spaced flanges 80 and 81 and lie interiorly of theU-shaped cross section. The free ends of the interior flanges 86 and 87are cut at an angle to engage the interior faces of short flanges 58 and58a respectively. The latter flangesforrn short stubs partiallyenclosing otherwise U-shaped cross-sectional grooves 50 and '50arespectively.

- Extension 54 forms a small shelf which can be grasped for manuallyopening or closing the door 10. i

The material of which hinge 40 is made is of a high molecular weightpolymer, preferably a polyallomer plastic. The name polyallomer isapplied to block copolymers of propylene and ethylene, which have thehighly ordered crystalline structure of polypropylene but differchemically because of the incorporation of ethylene into the molecule.

A particular commercial polyallomer formulation has a density of 0.902,one of the lightest commercially available solid plastics; brittlenesstemperature to -40 F.; heat distortion temperature to 210 F. at 66p.s.i., has greater resistance to abrasion and fatigue from flexing thanpolypropylene, and is superior to linear polyethylene in flowcharacteristics, moldability, hardness, and mold shrinkage.

While a polyallomer plastic is preferred, suitable other high molecularWeight plastic material may be substituted.

In summary, a novel plastic hinge arrangement is provided for aweather-tight hinged door having a long effective life. The hinge hasflanges which engage grooves in abutting panels of the door.

While a particular embodiment of this invention has been shown anddescribed, changes and modifications will occur to those skilled in theart and it is intended to include such changes and modifications in thescope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A hinged sectional door comprising, hingedly secured panel sections,each of said panel sections having at least two spaced frame membersseparated by a panel marginally secured to respective longitudinal edgesof said frame members, each of said frame members having longitudinaledges remote from said edges secured to said panel,

said latter longitudinal edges of said frame members having a recessedlongitudinal groove,

and a plurality of high polymer plastic hinges of generally "U-shapedcross-section, each hinge having a central web portion integrally andlongitudinally connected to a pair of flanges generally perpendicular tosaid central web portion and spaced from each other,

said hinges further having a pair of inwardly and centrally extendingflanges individually, integrally and longitudinally connected to thefree ends of respective ones of said perpendicular flanges,

said hinges being inserted into mating ones of said longitudinal groovesof frame members.

2. A hinged sectional door as recited in claim 1 in which said hinge isof polyallomer material.

3. A hinged sectional door as recited in claim 1 in which said centralweb of said hinge has a recessed are'a facing said grooves of said framemembers.

4. A hinged sectional door as recited in claim 1 in which each of saidlongitudinal grooves has a longitudinal flange partially closing each ofsaid grooves for engagement with the ends of said inwardly and centrallyextending flanges.

5. A'hing'ed sectional door as recited in claim 4 in which saidlongitudinal flanges are located inwardly of said longitudinal edges ofsaid frame members a distance equal to the thickness of said central webof said hinge whereby the rear faces of the hinge and the frames arecoplanar.

6. A hinged sectional door comprising at least two adjacent main panelsections, each section having at least one longitudinal edge having agenerally U-shaped groove therein,

each of said grooved edges having parallel inside walls and alongitudinal flange located along an outer edge of said U-shaped grooveand partially closing said groove and plastic hinge means mounted andarranged to enter said grooves and engage said longitudinal flangesWhile spanning the spacebetween said main panel sections said plastichinge means being generally U-shaped in cross-section and having acentral web section and spaced outwardly extending parallel flangesintegrally connected to said central web section and having inwardlyreflexive flanges integrally connected along free edges of said parallelflanges and forming acute angles with respective ones of said parallelflanges for engagement with the inside Walls of said grooves and withsaid longitudinal flanges of said grooves.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,458,537

PETE'R M. CAUN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R leo zsi, 23g

